Lahore (Staff Report): The Punjab government has formed a new joint investigation team to probe into Model Town incident.
According to a notification issued by Additional Chief Secretary Home Fazeel Asghar, the JIT headed by Inspector General (IG) Motorways AD Khawaja and comprising on Lt Colonel Mohammad Attique-uz-Zaman from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt Colonel Irfan Mirza from Military Intelligence (MI), Mohammad Ahmed Kamal, deputy director general of Intelligence Bureau (IB), and Qamar Raza, deputy inspector general (DIG) Police Headquarters Gilgit-Baltistan will probe matters relating to the Model Town incident.
On December 5, 2018, the Supreme Court had ordered the Punjab government to form a new joint investigation team (JIT) in the Model Town case.
At least 14 people were killed and 100 others injured in police action against PAT workers in Lahore on June 17, 2014.
Earlier, a report drafted by Lahore High Court judge Justice (retd) Baqir Najfi-led commission, had termed the 2014 tragedy as the "most unfortunate incident" in the country's history. It said that police tried to cover up the facts regarding who gave orders to open fire on protesters.
The report added that no legal opinion was sought from the Punjab advocate general prior to the start of the operation.